


I'd do anything for my family

by IntuitionIsKey03



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Alternate Universe- David Adopts Max, Gen, dadvid, max//vid shippers get the fuck away from this fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 08:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14052861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntuitionIsKey03/pseuds/IntuitionIsKey03
Summary: It was barely a full year after David adopted Max before everything went to shit. Apparently the world fucking hated him. But hey, at least he still has David...Right?





	1. The next meal

**Author's Note:**

> Max might be kind of OOC and is 14 in this fic.

Max sighed as he knelt down to retie his shoelace on his left shoe that had come undone. As he stood back up, he readjusted the straps on the backpack he was carrying. “Damn shoes…unreliable pieces of shit…” He grumbled as he continued down the desolate road with various wrecked or abandoned cars along with decaying bodies strewn about. He pulled out the metal baseball bat with barbed wire that he managed to weld onto it, clutching the handle grip like a life-line.

“One of these houses has gotta have some survivors…” He murmured as he walked past a boarded up house. “Can’t just leave David alone to suffer…”

 

 

“I get that a lot of people have either died, became zombies or fled the area, but come ON!” He snarled as he exited another empty house. He froze as he left the front door way, there was a man across the street. “Is that…a survivor?” He whispered to himself only to grin as he jogged over to the man once he realized he wasn’t a zombie.

“Hey.” Max greeted but tried not to snort in amusement as the man jumped in surprise.

“Damn kid..!” Max raised an eyebrow at the man.

“If you’re so fucking jumpy, then I’m assuming you’ve been attacked before.” The man blinked only to glare at Max, becoming suspicious. He nodded. Max rolled his eyes before walking off and motioning for the guy to follow him.

“C’mon, let’s get out of the street. If we stay out here, we’re bound to get swarmed by a horde of those dead fuckers.”

“You know of a safe house or something?”

Max shrugged. “More or less.”

“Why are you by yourself, kid?”

“My name is Max, so stop calling me kid. And I’m by myself because my team was a bunch of pussies and either died and got eaten or stayed behind.” Max replied.

“Well, my name is Gavin. And I’m kind of in a similar boat.”

Max sighed to himself as he played with the strings on his hoodie with his free hand. “It seems that whatever the fuck happened turned everyone into either assholes or pansies.”

“Yeah…so how far is this place of yours?” Gavin asked, looking down at Max.

“About a few blocks away.” Max replied as he swapped out his barbed metal bat for a standard metal pipe. He looked back and saw Gavin’s confused face and shrugged. “If we come across any dead pieces of shit, I’d rather not spend the rest of the night cleaning out chunks of decaying skin, meat and brain matter.”

Gavin chuckled. “Fair enough.”

The two continued on in relative silence.

 

 

 

The pair finally reached Max’s safe house with ease, they encountered about two zombies on the way but Gavin disposed of them, saying some shit like ‘Kids shouldn’t have to deal with this kind of stuff’ to which Max scoffed.

Max pulled out his house key and unlocked the front door. “C’mon in, make yourself at home or whatever.”Gavin followed Max in, who closed and locked the door back as Gavin entered.

Gavin then turned towards Max with a bit of an apprehensive expression. “I know we’ve just met and all, but…do you have any food?”

Max nodded, “Yeah. The kitchen is a fucking mess, so I had to move all the shit to the garage.  Follow me.” He ushered for Gavin to follow him again. They entered the dining room and Max pointed at a door across the room. “Right there. I managed to scavenge a fuck ton from my old group and occasionally from assholes who would try to kill me. Help yourself. Just don’t fucking eat all of it.” Gavin’s eyes widened in surprise and walked over to the door and opened it. He wasn’t all surprised by the darkness of the room and felt for a switch.

“Where’s the—AH FUCK!!”

Gavin’s question was cut short when Max suddenly slammed the metal pipe against his legs, causing him to topple to the floor. His head banged against the door frame and against the floor. Dazed by the sudden attack, Gavin tried to locate Max through his hazy vision only for it to go black when Max slammed the pipe against his head.

 

 

 

Gavin tried to blink the stars out his eyes as he came to. He started to become aware that he wasn’t in the dining room anymore and began to try to move his limbs. No such luck. He heard the clinking sound of chains so he assumed he was chained up.

“What the fuck!” The last this he remembered was—

“Fuck, you’re awake already? Damn…”

Gavin shut his eyes as the lights were suddenly turned on. He hesitantly opened them as he tried to adjust to the brightness. “You piece of shit!” He sneered, causing Max to snort.

“Guess I didn’t hit hard enough. Oh well, he prefers them alive anyway.”

“What the fuck are you talking abo—“ Gavin’s retort died in his throat as he took in the sight across the room he was in.

“OH FUCK! OH FUCK!” He yelled as he tried to scoot back, but yielding no results.

A zombie was chained up to the wall, the red hair on the head disheveled, skin decaying, eyes sunken in and lifeless, blood splattered on the bite wound on the neck, a dull yellow handkerchief tied around the mouth, torn light green shirt and vest, parts of the shorts nearly shredded and camping boots decked in both mud and grime.

Gavin was too terrified to not notice how the zombie didn’t try to attack Max as he began to unlock the chains.

It did, however, start to become feisty as it smelled its newest meal.

That caused Max to groan in annoyance. “Oh my fucking god, David. Calm the fuck down. Stay still while I’m unlocking these!” That somehow managed to calm the undead man down as he stopped moving around so much.

“Why are you doing this, you sick fuck?!” Gavin yelled, which caused David to let out moans and growls.

Max peered over at Gavin and looked him dead in the eyes. “Have you ever tried to do anything for your family? Keep them safe? Happy?”

Gavin gulped.

“Well…”

Max unlocked the last chain and let David loose, who immediately sprang for Gavin.

“I’d do anything for my dad.”


	2. The hunter becomes the hunted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so fucking sorry.

Max sighed as David continued to devour Gavin. “I swear, people let their guards down too easily now. They’re such god damn idiots.”

It took a while before David finished eating and Max led him back over to the wall and began reattaching the chains and locking them. “Sorry David. I’ll try to find more people next time, I don’t think he was enough.” David’s small growls grabbed Max’s attention.

“David?” Max’s eyes widened in amazement as David ever so gently shook his head.

“You…don’t want me to…get more people? But—“

David’s growl increased in volume which made Max flinch. Shaking off the slight fear, Max groaned and pinched the area above his nose in annoyance. “Look, David. I don’t give a shit if you approve or not. I’m doing this because it’s MY choice. You have to eat, okay?”

When he finished locking the chains, Max reached for one of David’s hands.

“I’ll keep doing this even if I become the last living person here.”

His grip tightened on David’s hand and he felt David grip back slightly.

“I’ll search again in the morning…”

Max let go of David’s hand and walked towards the door.

“Good night, dad.”

He turned off the light and closed the door behind him as he left.

David let out a small moan as he watched Max leave the room.

 

 

Max blinked in surprise.

“Fuck. I called him dad twice. God if he were alive, he would never get over it…” He groaned and walked through the dining room and into the living room. He turned to the right and headed for the stairs.

As he began climbing, his stomach growled loudly. Max grabbed his abdomen in pain. “I haven’t eaten today…fuck. Guess that’s another thing to look for when out searching for survivors. I’ve been so preoccupied with David that I forgot. Shit.” He mumbled as he continued up the stairs. Upon reaching the top, he walked towards the first door which was the master bedroom.

David’s room.

He opened the door and walked over to the bed, his eyes catching the dusty picture frame on the nightstand next to the bed. He stared at the picture.

It was a picture of him and David, the day he adopted him. David was smiling as he was holding Max in his arms. Max was pouting in the picture but he remembered how happy he was that day.

Blinking back tears, Max moved to sit on the bed. “Can’t believe it’s been four years since he adopted me…and three years since he turned.”

Not bothering to change, Max climbed under the covers and pulled them up to his neck. He then reached over and pulled over his teddy bear, Mr. Honeynuts, over to his chest. Cuddling the bear, Max fell asleep with a small smile on his face.

 

 

 

Max awoke to the sound of someone pounding on the front door. In his half-asleep state, he figured it was Gwen since she liked to bang on the door, but then remembered the situation he was in now and shot up out of bed, realizing someone was trying to break in.

“Shit!” He whispered as he jumped out of bed and tried to get down the steps as quietly as possible and booked it to the garage door.

He threw the door open and closed it behind him, locking it.

Breathing heavily, Max ran over to David. “Dad!” He whispered, “Someone is trying to break in! I don’t know if it’s more than one person! I might not be able to take them!” He wheezed, fear overtaking him.

Fear wasn’t something that Max had felt since David turned when he was 11.

David let out some soft moans in response to Max’s distress, as if to try to calm the boy, only to growl as Max jumped when the front door slammed open and it hit the wall. Two pairs of footsteps could be heard through the house, one pair heading up the stairs and the second one heading to the garage door. Max let out a small whimper when the door handle rattled, he pushed himself against David, who tried to growl at the door.

“Dad, shh!! Be quiet!” Max harshly whispered over the rattling, only for the person to start banging on the door.

David’s growls eventually began to quiet down, but the chains holding him rattled occasionally, as if he were trying to attack whatever was scaring Max.

“Please, dad!” Max pleaded, only for him to let out a small scream when the door was kicked down.

A tall man entered the room and laid his eyes on David.

“Found one!” He called out. His eyes eventually met Max’s terrified ones. “Oh fuck…There’s a kid!” The man reached for his gun strapped to his holster only for Max to stand in-between David and the man.

“Stop! Don’t shoot!”

“Get away from it, kid!”

“He’s my dad! Don’t fucking shoot!”

The man tsked, clearly annoyed at this point.

“Lower your gun! He won’t attack you unless he’s released from the chains!”

The man let out a groan, frustrated at having to bargain with a kid over keeping a zombie alive. He lowered his gun and put it back in his holster. Max let out a sigh of relief.

“Figure you know why we’re here?” The man asked, crossing his arms.

“To rob me of my shit and kill me?” Max retorted.

“We’d only kill you if we were attacked or if you were like your dad.”

Max rolled his eyes. “There’s not much to steal anyway. I ran out of food two days ago and got no running water. Lights barely work but that’s about it.”

“You could come wi—“

“If you think for one fucking second that I’m gonna abandon my dad, then you’re a god damn idiot!” Max yelled, making the man look at him in shock.

The man’s eyes hardened. “You’re gonna die if you keep this up. Who’s to say he won’t turn on you if he runs out of food?”

“What’re you—“

“That pile of meat over there. You lured some poor idiot to his death just to feed your dad.”

Max looked away, biting his lower lip.

“He won’t turn on me…”

“What makes you say that?”

“I’ve been doing this ever since he turned…”

“And that has been..?”

“………Three years.”

“Holy shit…”

Neither Max nor the man noticed the second person walk into the garage, only to hear a yelp.

“Holy fuck!”

Max and the man suddenly looked up and saw the second person entering the garage, his gun aimed at David.

“NO DON’T—“

Max’s eyes widened when he heard the bang ring out through the garage. He slowly turned towards David when the chains clanged together.

The man shot David.

He shot David.

_HE SHOT DAVID._

Max felt tears welling in his eyes as he turned back towards David’s killer. “YOU ASSHOLE! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!” He lunged at the man, his fist colliding with the man’s chest.

“Fucking brat..!”

Max barely got a second hit in when a second bang echoed throughout the garage. He staggered away from the two, coughing as he tried to inhale oxygen when he couldn’t. He fell on his ass as he tried to breathe. He started to feel something wet ooze from his mouth.

Blood. He felt blood on his tongue.

Looking down to his shirt, Max saw a bullet sized hole in his chest where he left lung is. He looked back up at the two men, the man who first came in gone. But the man who shot David and him was still there. He pressed the barrel of the gun against Max’s head.

He didn’t get to hear the third bang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE FORGIVE ME


	3. How it began

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I tried not to cry while writing this. It was hard.

It had been a relatively normal Tuesday morning for Max. He was fixing himself a cup of coffee when David ran down the stairs and into the dining room.

“Max!”

Max nearly dropped his cup in surprise when David yelled for him. “What the hell, David?!”

“Max, I know you just woke up, but we have to go!”

“What? Why?”

“I’ll explain it to you on the way there! Just fill your backpack with as much clothes as you can!”

Max had never seen David that jumpy before, even at camp, but he complied with his request. He set his cup on the table and went upstairs to his room. He grabbed his backpack he used for school, dumped all the shit he had in it and began piling his clothes into it.

“This is kinda freaking me out…” He said to himself only for his thought to be interrupted by a scream from outside. Max flinched and carefully walked to the window and pulled back his blinds, only to see people being—

“HOLY SHIT!”

Max jumped away from the window in shock and then ran for his backpack.

“Max?! Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine!! Let’s just fucking go already!” Max yelled back as he zipped up his bag and grabbed his teddy bear from his bed and ran down the stairs.

Max looked at David in surprise when he saw him attaching two gun holsters to his shorts, both having loaded fire arms in them.

“David? What’s going on?”

David turned to Max, only to scoop him up in his arms and bolted out the door for their car.

“David!”

He didn’t answer, he just unlocked the car as fast as he could and tried to put Max in the passenger’s seat from the driver’s side. He got in and buckled himself in and closed the door, putting the key in the ignition and put the car in reverse.

“David! Answer me, god dammit!”

David inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled as he pulled out of the driveway, then putting the car in drive and going down the street.

“Okay Max. I understand that you’re probably scared about what’s going on—“

“No shit!”

“But there’s recently been an epidemic going around and the city has prepared a safe house for the moment.”

Max looked at David in shock as he pulled on his seatbelt. “Epidemic? Like a disease or something?”

David nodded without looking at Max.

“Oh fucking hell…don’t tell me that this is gonna turn out to be like those stupid ass survival horror movies or like The Walking Dead.”

David sighed as he kept his eyes on the road, trying not to hit any fleeing civilians and those who had been turned.

“Sorry, kiddo. Apparently that is what’s happening. Thankfully as the safe house, we’re gonna meet up with Gwen and some of the military—“

“David, you fucking idiot! Have you never seen anything of those movies?! Going to the safe house is the stupidest thing ever!”

David quickly glanced over at Max, the boy’s face having a mixed expression of fear and aggression.

“What makes you say that, Max?”

Max held onto Mr. Honeynuts tightly. “It’ll get overrun pretty quickly, plus overcrowding. People always assume safe houses are some sort of paradise without realizing the dangers. Overcrowding means low food rations, and people are gonna try to steal the fucking food. Maybe even kill others over it. And even if we do have the military, who’s to say they won’t turn on us too? They might have the best gear and weapons, but they’ll eventually run low and get attacked.”

David didn’t reply for about two minutes.

“You…you sure know a lot about this stuff, don’t you Max?”

“Someone has to, or we’ll fucking die.”

David let out a small laugh.

“Alright Max. How about this: we’ll see if we can stop there and pick up Gwen, then leave if we can.”

“…Okay.”

 

 

 

David internally swore to himself as he and Max made it to the safe house. Apparently if you enter the safe house, you can’t leave unless you’ve been bitten.

David sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry Max.” He apologized, looking down at the boy.

“What the fuck ever…” Max grumbled, his hand in David’s.

Max refused to leave David’s side the second they left the car. If this were a normal day, David would’ve been overjoyed. But it wasn’t.

It was barely even a full day, but Max was right. It did get overcrowded pretty quickly. The two had a hard time finding Gwen through the massive crowd of people, but they decided to lay low for the day.

David sat down with his back pressed against the wall, Max sitting beside him.

“How long has it been since we got here?” Max asked, his arms wrapped around his bear.

David looked at the watch on his wrist. “Um…about five hours.”

Max let out a groan in annoyance. “God dammit.”

“It’s alright Max. The people at the entrance said they’d be handing out the rations soon.”

“I just wish I didn’t leave my coffee at the house.” Max grumbled.

David let out a small chuckle as he lightly pat Max’s head, his hand running through his hair.

“When this is all over, I promise I’ll get you some special coffee.”

“You better keep that promise, David.”

“I will.”

Not soon after their small talk, a worker came over and gave the two their rations. It was pretty small, a small loaf of bread, a small cup of soup and a few crackers.

“There’s gotta be more variety than this shit.” Max complained, playing around with the soup with his spoon.

David gave a small huff, but he couldn’t help agreeing with him. “Now Max, they have to spread their rations thin to all the people here. They may have different types of food, but they probably gave those to the others.”

Max sighed as he pushed his tray aside. “…I lost my appetite.”

“Max…”

“Just eat my portion.”

“You know I won’t do th—“

“Just fucking do it.”

“Max. I will not eat your food. I understand if you’re overwhelmed by everything that has happened, but please…”

Max groan in frustration and pulled his tray back onto his lap. “Fucking fine! But don’t blame me when I start puking!”

David forced a smile as he watched Max start to eat his food, then began eating his.

 

 

It was like that for the first few days. Max kept losing his appetite and tried to bargain with David over giving him his meal.

It wasn’t until the sixth day that Max broke down.

“I just can’t fucking deal with this!”

“Max—“

“Are we just supposed to sit here until we run out of food and die or until those things break in?!”

“Max please—!”

David tried whatever he could to get Max to calm down, but the boy was both terrified and agitated.

Max turned towards David with tears in his eyes. “I’d rather go back to fucking Camp Campbell than go through this bullshit!”

David had to force down the lump in his throat as he stared at Max.

“Max…”

Trying so hard to keep the tears from falling failed and Max threw himself at David, burying his face in his chest.

“I just wanna go back home…I wanna see Nikki and Neil and Gwen…”

David rubbed gentle circles on Max’s back and placed kisses in his hair as he held him tight, gently rocking him back and forth.

“I know Max…I wanna go back home too…”

Max sniffled.

“I want you to make another promise, David.”

“What’s that?”

“Promise me that I won’t lose you in this mess.”

“…I promise Max.”

 

 

 

The next day was when everything became even worse.

Max, again, was right. They became overrun.

They broke through the barrier, the military at the gates not being able to stop the massive horde.

The place had only lasted a fucking week.

Max was hoping it’d last at least a month or three.

David was hoping it’d last until the epidemic was over.

It wasn’t long until the entire safe house was in an uproar. The people at the front getting attacked, causing the rest to panic.

The second David heard the screams, he picked Max up and ran towards the back exit.

“They broke through, didn’t they?”

David could only nod as he ran for the doors. Max clutched onto David’s shirt as he made it to the doors with little to no conflict. He got pushed around a bit by the fleeing civilians, but that was about it.

“As much as I’d like to get back to the car, I don’t think it’s worth it.” David said as he ran for the fence surrounding the area. The fence wasn’t that high but there was barbed wire on the top, so climbing it was out of the picture.

“Over there.” Max pointed out. David followed Max’s view and saw a gated door.

“Good eye, Max!” David called out as he ran for it.

Surprisingly, the door wasn’t locked, nor did it have an electric output. David immediately threw it open and took off into the streets.

 

 

 

David had been running for about an hour before he decided he needed a break. He stopped and set Max down.

Max pulled off his backpack and pulled out a bottle of water, handing it over to David.

“Before you ask, yes I stole it.”

David rolled his eyes in amusement and took the bottle of water, unscrewing the cap and taking a few sips.

After screwing the cap back on, David handed the bottle back to Max, who put it back in his bag. David then reached for one of his holsters and took it off, handing that to Max as well.

“What—“

“To protect yourself.”

Max looked at the gun and then back to David. He hesitantly took it. He stared at it, running his hand over the metal. He then looked back to David.

“…Does playing Grand Theft Auto count as being able to fire a gun?”

David snorted. “Only if you count Mario Kart as being able to drive.”

Max let out a small laugh, then he attached the holster as best he could, only for David to do it for him.

“I know we just stopped to rest, but I don’t think it’s the best idea for us to be out in the open.” Max said as he took in his surroundings.

David blinked and then smacked his forehead.

“Of course! I’m such a dummy! We better go find a good place to seek refuge in for now.”

“Can it be a restaurant?”

“Why?”

“Free food.”

“…Oh. Well, only if it hasn’t been ransacked.”

“Fuck yes.”

It didn’t take long for the two to come across an abandoned restaurant. The one window in the front was shattered and there were some blood on the wall, door and cement but that was about it. David didn’t know if there were anyone inside, but he cautiously walked up to the door and slowly opened it.

“Stay beside me, Max.” David whispered as he gently pressed Max against his side. He pulled the gun from his holster, holding it tightly in his grip.

The inside of the restaurant wasn’t exactly in bad shape, per se, just kinda…ruined. Some tables and chairs were overturned, a few trays and eating utensils strewn about on the floor along with uneaten food. But there were various puddles and smears of blood on the floor and walls. Some even on the counter. What worried David though was the thick trail of blood trailing behind the counter.

“How many do you think there are?” Max inquired, his voice hushed.

“I’m not entirely sure. Could be one…” David gulped, “…still eating…Or the one who was attacked and dragged managed to flee…” He whispered back, still unsure of the poor person’s outcome.

Max hovered his hand over his newly gifted gun as they turned towards the other side of the counter, only for David to cover his eyes.

“David..?” Max heard David gag, so he assumed that from both the sound from him and the disgusting squelching noises that there was a zombie eating someone, like he saw outside his window before they fled from their house.

David raised his gun and tried to aim at the head, but his arm kept shaking from fear and disgust. He managed to get a good enough hit because of the loud bang max heard along with the thud of a body.

“Board up the door and window!” David ordered as he took his other hand off Max.

He didn’t need to be told twice, because he instantly ran for the front door. When he managed to get to it, he already heard distant moans and growls, meaning that the gunfire probably attracted more zombies. Max tried to push a table against the broken window along with a few chairs to keep it stable, he then pushed more tables and chairs (with some difficulty) against the door to keep it shut. He wiped his forehead and turned back towards David.

“Now wh—“

David was gone.

Max’s heart leapt into his throat as he tried not to panic.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” Max tried to reason on why he was gone, only to become overrun with dread. “He…he probably just went to check the storage! Yeah! He…wouldn’t just leave me.”

Inhaling deeply and slowly exhaling, Max marched over to the counter and went behind it, only to cover his mouth in shock and disgust. “Ok…that’s just fucking disgusting…”

He tried to tip toe around the dead zombie and nearly devoured human and walked into the back room.

“David..?” He gently called out, peering through the pots, pans and metal tables.

Said person popped his head around the corner, looking out from the storage room. “Yes, Max?”

Max let out a sigh of relief and ran over to him. “Jesus fucking Christ! Don’t disappear on me like that!” He harshly whispered.

David blinked in surprise only to have a look of guilt on his face. “Sorry about that…I wanted to make sure that there weren’t any more in here.”

“At least tell me that first!”

“Right, right. That’s on me.”

“Well…did you find anything?”

David rubbed the back of his neck in uncomfortable silence. “Um…kinda? The people here were smart enough to take a lot of their supplies with them, but did leave some behind in the rush.”

“So how long do you think it’ll last us?” Max asked, crossing his arms in a huff.

David sighed. “A month at best, if we limit ourselves.”

Max let out a small groan before face-palming. “Great. Just fucking great. That means we’ll have to do supply runs, but we can’t leave the front because I heard some outside and we can’t come back in through the rear exit. We’re gonna have to take the food and go.”

“Why can’t we stay here?”

A loud bang from the front interrupted their thoughts.

“That’s why. Just grab as much shit as you can and let’s go.”

David sighed and started piling his arms full of frozen foods and surprisingly enough, knives.

“David. There’s some aprons over there. I brought my sewing kit just in case, so I can sew them together into a bag of sorts.”

“We’re not gonna—“

“I know we’re not gonna have enough damn time! That’s why you should just grab the fucking aprons and pile the shit in them and tie them up! It’s not rocket science!”

“Are there at least some covers for the knives..?”

“OH MY GOD, JUST TAKE THE DAMN HOLDER YOU PUSSY!”

David squeaked as he placed the knives back into the wooden holder and then ran for the aprons hung up on the hooks by the door way. He laid them out one by one and began filling them up with various foods and the holders with knives. Max knew he wouldn’t be able to carry more than at least two so he began helping David with the rest.

It took about 20 minutes before the makeshift barrier Max made had crumbled and zombies began shuffling into the building.

“Out the back! Come on!” David called as he held at least six aprons full of food (one with the knives). Max grabbed the two he tied and ran after David, the two running out the emergency exit. The only downside was that the idiotic constructors thought it’d be a good idea to put an alarm on the door, so when David opened it, a shrill siren came on.

“Fuck!” Max swore, pissed that their position was given away.

“Let’s go!”

“Where are we supposed to go now?!”

“Maybe a weapon store!”

“They’re bound to be ransacked! Everyone goes for those after raiding the grocery stores!”

David turned towards Max with an irritated glare. “Well do you have a better idea, Mr. ‘I-know-everything-that-you’re-supposed-to-do-in-a-zombie-epidemic’?!”

Max gulped. “…N-No…”

David exhaled through his nose. “Alright then. To the nearest weapon store.”

 

 

 

Not only was Max right, again, but apparently almost every time they tried to find refuge in a new location, it was either completely devoid of anything that could be of use, overrun with zombies, or some people managed to make it their own territory.

How someone made it into their own area so quickly still confused both David and Max, but they never got to stick around to ask questions.

Unfortunately there were a few times where they were jumped for their things, especially food. What really pissed David off was that one of the people who attacked them tried to use Max as leverage but thankfully Max managed to use a hidden blade he attached to his arm (he said he learned it from a game called Assassin’s Creed) and stabbed the person in the abdomen.

It seemed that almost every new encounter gave the two new injuries and scars to tell.

It had only been 11 months (reaching one year) since the epidemic began but David already had three diagonal scars on the left side of his jaw, a cut on his right eyebrow, a rather long scar stretching from his forearm to his elbow, a couple of bruises on his legs and a few scratches on his hands. Max had a small scar on the left side of his nose, a cross scar on his right hand, about four scars scattered on each leg in various places and numerous amounts of scratches on his arms.

And after all the encounters they had, Max wished he could be happy, because David became more and more prone to curse, but it actually started to scare him.

Max had also changed his clothes after a while, he wore a dark grey long sleeve shirt with a tank top underneath, dark green sweatpants and a small pair of boots they managed to scavenge from a mall before it became overrun. David even gave him his old Camp Campbell shirt, which he had tied around his neck like David did.

David didn’t manage to find new clothes. He wasn’t sad about it, because he’d rather find any chance he could to keep Max safe. What he thankfully did change was his weapons. His pistol long abandoned was replaced with a shotgun, a couple of knives and a sniper rifle.

Max rarely used his gun so he still had his, but he found a thick metal pipe and a metal baseball bat and some barbed wire, which he asked David to weld onto the bat to have a more effective weapon.

 

 

 

 

 

As of right now, David was fairly certain they were going in circle because not only were they in the woods, but he could see some houses in the distance.

His neighborhood.

“I think it’s best to set up camp for right now. It’s already getting dark out and this area seems clear. I haven’t heard anything for a few hours.” David said as he began pulling out a lighter from his pocket, something Max had given him as a joke with a pack of cigarettes.

Max barely managed to stifle a yawn and had helped David set up a camp fire, thankful for once for the bullshit he was taught at camp. After they had gotten the fire lit, David turned to Max.

“Go ahead and rest. I’ll keep watch.”

“David, you’ve kept watch for the past three days. Let me do it.”

He felt a small smile form as he stared at Max, who was trying not to fall asleep.

“You’re about to fall asleep. Get some rest, okay? I’ll wake you up when I’m feeling sleepy.”

Max let out another yawn and huffed, walking over to David. “You fucking better wake me up.”

David pat Max’s head as they sat down. “I will, now try and sleep. We’re already almost home.”

“Holy shit, really?”

“Yup. We’ll be back home in the morning.”

Max had a large smile on his face as he immediately went in to hug David. Letting out a small laugh, David returned the hug.

The hug lasted for about a minute before Max pulled away and then he turned to walk over to his backpack, picking it up and sitting on the other side of the camp fire. He pulled out his old hoodie from the bag and rolled it up into a makeshift pillow and placed it on the ground. He then laid on the ground and placed his head on the hoodie-pillow. He turned his head towards David, “Good night, David.”

“G’night, Max.”

Max closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

David smiled as he watched Max fall asleep. He definitely needed the rest, given how low his energy is from not eating. Max always opted to give his food to David, doing the whole ‘I’m not hungry’ routine. It didn’t take a while before David heard soft snores coming from Max.

Unfortunately for David, the gentle breeze blowing through the trees and Max’s soft snores started lulling him to sleep. He tried to stay awake but eventually nodded off himself.

David’s eyes snapped open when he heard movement from the tree lining, something like leaves and bushes rustling along with twigs snapping and dead leaves crunching. David found himself laying down on the ground with his back facing the fire. He shot up and turned to face Max and he swore he felt his heart stop. At least 2 zombies were closing in on Max who was still asleep. David silently swore when he tried to reach for his weapons only to accidentally knock them away. Not only did he fall asleep, but so did his left leg.

“MAX!!”

Max jolted awake, sitting up to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

“Wha..? What is it?”

“Behind you!”

Max turned around and he was instantly fully awake.

“SHIT!”

David tried to stand up despite how uncomfortable it was to stand with one leg that was asleep, but he still managed, and ran for Max. David scooped him into his arms while Max made a grab for his backpack. He managed to make a good few feet away from the two chasing him only for one to grab his arm and the back of his shirt.

“Shit!” David swore as he tried to pull himself out of the zombie’s grasp. He felt himself die a little on the inside because the zombie actually managed to fucking bite him.

Max immediately pulled the gun from his holster once David picked him and tried to aim, except it was pretty shitty due to David moving so much. He thankfully got a head shot once it was close enough, but it cost David’s life. Not bothering to shoot the other, David booked it out of the woods and onto the street. Their house was coming into view and ran for the front door, David left it unlocked in their haste last year so he immediately ran inside and slammed the door behind them.

“David…I’m sorry.”

David looked down at Max in his arms, who was trying so desparetly not to cry. David tried to manage his breathing as he set Max down.

“There’s…nothing to be…sorry for, Max.”

“Yes there fucking is! I was being a whiny bitch and didn’t eat so I became a burden on you! I kept you awake during the nights and made you look for extra shit we didn’t need and…” Max sniffed as he tried to wipe away his tears, “I was too slow to shoot that fucker when it bit you!”

David knelt down and pulled Max into his arms. “Max, it’s okay—“

“No it isn’t…”

“—It’s okay because I managed to protect you. I kept you safe, which is something I’m more than happy to do. Granted there were times where I was a dunderhead and didn’t see the danger until I walked right into it.”

“But those were the times where I was able to bail your ass out.”

“Exactly. You’re not a burden. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.”

Max clung onto David’s shirt and began sobbing.

“B-But I can’t do t-this on my own! I-I can’t l-lose you, dad!”

David held Max a little tighter, tears of his own trailing down his cheeks. “I know…and I should be the one should apologize. I’m sorry that I have you leave you alone in this scary world.”

David gently released his hold on Max, who also pulled away. He looked over Max, who looked more like the frightened, small child that he really was. David caressed Max’s cheek with his thumb and kissed his forehead.

Max sniffled and looked up at David. “W-What should I do..?”

David had then realized what a fucking idiot he was. While they were walking in circles, he could’ve helped Max to a safer place, an area that wasn’t swarming with the undead.

“I…I don’t know…Maybe I can…can lead you as far as I can to a safer location..?”

Max looked at him like he was insane. “No! You’re not leaving!”

“Why not?”

“You’d never make it in time! Plus the people there would shoot you and maybe me too.”

“But Max…”

“But nothing! We’re staying here and that’s final!”

David couldn’t help but snort. “You sound like a parent scolding a child.”

“I might as fucking well be.” Max retorted with a small smile on his face and with a soft chuckle.

David let out an amused huff and stood back up. “Alright, so what now?”

“You’re going to bed.”

“What?”

“You heard what I said. Get your ass in your room and go to sleep.”

Sighing, David did what Max demanded and climbed up the stairs.

Max watched him go up the stairs and let out a sigh of relief. He untied the shirt around his neck and held it in his hands. His gaze left the dull yellow cloth and it returned to the stairs as David entered his room.

“I don’t fucking care if you turn. I’m not leaving you, dad.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And he didn't for the next three years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. am. so. fucking. sorry.


End file.
